October 31, 2012

Child, no more!

Being a parent isn't easy. We are expected to know a lot...a lot more than our children do, anyway. Because we're older and supposedly, wiser too. Our experiences have taught us a lot over the years and we expect to be able to pass on this knowledge to our children...so that we can guard them, protect them, shield them from 'bad' things happening to them. Often, it doesn't pass on as knowledge but more as instruction. There is a subtle difference between the two - only one lets them learn for themselves.

But why should it be that way? Do age and experience mean so much that we feel many times, beyond a doubt, that we know everything? Can we not let our children make mistakes and figure out things for themselves? OK, maybe not all the time...like if they wanted to lie down in the middle of the road to find out the probability of getting hit by a car, we can stop them and say, "No...don't do that" and secretly think to ourselves, "We know...we almost tried it too but were stopped just in time!"

At what point do we learn that our children are children no more but adults (little adults, even!) who are capable of making a choice for themselves whether right or wrong? If there are no guarantees in life anyway, then what makes us so sure that what we know is the only truth? What makes us so sure that staying within the boundaries that have been drawn for us will result in positives...for them?

What makes us so sure that letting them take the path less trodden may not be the best thing they've ever done?